Tinnitus: What does all that noise mean?

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squirrel

squirrel

Just out of interest how many people have suffered from tinnitus after stopping medication. I have never had it before stopping paroxetine in 2005 it started in that first year and I still have it all day everyday!

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Jemima

Jemima

I had episodes of tinnitus before taking any ADs, largely due to hay fever. Withdrawal made it SO much worse. It was incapacitating for the first several months as the stuffiness and ringing in my ear was mostly on the left side, which threw me off-balance. All of it was complicated by not being able to get prescription Allegra. The OTC version just made me sicker with drowsiness, nausea, and developing sensitivities to peanuts and dairy, which I'd never had before.

When I read up on Lexapro side effects, sinus congestion was one of them and that may very well be true of other SSRIs. I *still* am having trouble getting prescription Allegra, so I resorted to herbal medicine, having at least one minced clove of garlic per day in a meal and using a do-it-yourself vaporizer by putting roughly two tablespoons of ordinary kitchen thyme in a small mixing bowl, pouring boiling water on it, and resting my face on the bowl, inhaling until the steam is gone. The latter takes about an hour to have any effect. It works for me, but your mileage may vary.

There's a website, The Road Back, (http://www.theroadback.org/) that offers a free book called How to Get Off Psychoactive Drugs Safely. It's 199 pages and a lot of it is good information regarding withdrawal and specific drug side effects. There's an entire chapter on drug side effects that's very informative. They do push suppplements - their supplements - and that part is largely ignorable.

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Karma

Karma

I am still coming off of an AD and still taking a benzo ... I've had tinnitus since June 2010. Sometimes it is mild, but sometimes it is intense. In general it is mild to moderate and I can live with it. I would love to know what to do to resolve it, but I haven't found anyone who seems to know what actually causes it or what to do for it.

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Dani

Dani

I have it...very hard to deal with. Mine started when trying to wean off zoloft october 2010. I've had it ever since. I've been off zoloft since march 2011. Some days the tinnitus is so bad...especially when I'm really anxious. Other days it's there but it's not so bothersome. I just hope it goes away one day.

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Shanti

Shanti

I keep getting it off and on. Every time that it sticks around a while I'm scared it will be permanent, but I realized when I say to myself that it will go away, it does. So I'm trying to use mental power to make sure it doesn't stick.

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Jemima

Jemima

I had tinnitus before taking AD's, and withdrawal has made it even worse. There are two things I know of that help to relieve the symptoms.

1) Dump two or three tablespoons of common kitchen thyme into a small mixing bowl and pour boiling hot water over it. Rest your face on the edges of the bowl and inhale until the water cools. If it doesn't work the first time, do it again in about an hour.

2) This came from a Mayo Clinic site ( http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/earwax-blockage/DS00052/DSECTION=lifestyle-and-home-remedies) for removing ear wax: a drop of glycerin really helps to soothe any soreness from inflammation (which, I think, is what tinnitus is all about). I would avoid the peroxide, which is drying, and also the baby oil because it has scent in it. I suspect olive oil would work well too, but God forbid we should use anything so cheap and easy. I just happened to have glycerin in my medicine cabinet.

A third one that I'm not so sure of is to avoid sugar and dairy products. I know that my tinnitus is due to sinus blockage, but reducing inflammation can't hurt. Also, buy as much organic and non-GM food as you can afford. The amount of chemicals and tampering that has happened to our food supply is staggering, and who knows what it does to the human body?

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Skyler

Skyler

I'm starting to understand why the white noise aka tinnitus is making me so crazy. Starting 30 minutes after I take a dose of Lyrica (150 mgs BID.. stabilizing prior to tapering), the tinnitus gets worse. Could I somehow be sensitized to Lyrica, so that it is very close to causing white noise whether I remain at the same dose or withdrew?

It seems like my body is sending mixed messages. Lyrica(lly) speaking, could this be the equivalent of tolerance withdrawal? But then the way I feel really does not seem to stack up this way... and I'm sure the confusing messages my body is sending me were at the root of my mistakenly taking an extra dose yesterday, because how could I feel worse if the dose had been taken an hour before. Then, for the next 8 hours I'm feeling fairly good.. the noise is bearable, and does not start to noticably increase until 2 hrs before the next dose is due. This pattern keeps repeating itself.

(again.. Med Minders and Journaling now in use, the above misstep will not happen again. I've been very diligent with the diazepam taper for 21 mos.. only made two dosing mistakes, so the screw up was not my usual)

Thanks for reading,

Schuyler

PS.. I hope this is in the right section. Was not sure if it should have gone into Tapering.

HOookayyy. I'm coming totally clean here. Can coffee make tinnitus worse? I had to ditch it with the top half of my benzo taper because I got agitated after drinking it. But with Lyrica, I drink coffee 2 hours before taking the 11AM dose, and am okay for the first hour after, which does not seem to indite coffee.. Do I still need to off load my coffee and go to something like a cup of less stimulating tea? Duhhhhh.

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Jemima

Jemima

It seems to be a rather common problem in withdrawal along with insomnia and sensitivity to light and noise. I've finally gotten over the insomnia and the light sensitivity has subsided somewhat, but I still have a high-pitched whistling sound in my left ear for several hours after I first get up and sinus blockage that sometimes causes dizziness. Hate it.

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Skyler

Skyler

I keep getting it off and on. Every time that it sticks around a while I'm scared it will be permanent, but I realized when I say to myself that it will go away, it does. So I'm trying to use mental power to make sure it doesn't stick.

Very scary, and this is my concern. Huge sigh, I'm about to jettison my well entrenched coffee habit.. but would like further input on this. My sense it, coffee has to go, but it is literally my only serious vice. Long sigh...

I had tinnitus before taking AD's, and withdrawal has made it even worse. There are two things I know of that help to relieve the symptoms.

Hi Jemima, I just put in for the book you mentioned. Sorry to hear you are so affected and hope relief is in the offing.

Schuyler

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Skyler

Skyler

Yup... does not address the caffeine connection, but I'm getting more and more convinced this might be the missing piece. Sighhhh. I love my coffee.. all 4 cups a day. Huge groan. I like tinnitus less however. Ringing and Coffee are Connected

I was hard pressed to give up coffee before, but it looks like this needs to be jettisoned again. Has to be, I have my second cup of coffee AFTER taking the Lyrica.. which is when it is getting worse.

GLUMP.. !@#$%^ I'm having an adult, or maybe not so adult snit fit.

Schuyler

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Altostrata

Altostrata

Schuyler, your nervous system may have gotten hypersensitized again from Lyrica withdrawal. If I were you, I'd definitely reduce caffeine. It's an activating substance, exactly what you don't need if you have withdrawal symptoms.

Because of inconsistency in dosing, the amount of Lyrica in your bloodstream may not be at a steady state yet. This could be adding to your problems.

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Jemima

Jemima

Yup... does not address the caffeine connection, but I'm getting more and more convinced this might be the missing piece. Sighhhh. I love my coffee.. all 4 cups a day. Huge groan. I like tinnitus less however. Ringing and Coffee are Connected

I was hard pressed to give up coffee before, but it looks like this needs to be jettisoned again. Has to be, I have my second cup of coffee AFTER taking the Lyrica.. which is when it is getting worse.

GLUMP.. !@#$%^ I'm having an adult, or maybe not so adult snit fit.

Schuyler

Thank you so much for the tinnitis link! I've searched the web before for help, but I never came across this site. I'm going to try taking a zinc supplement and see what happens.

As for coffee, I had to give that up almost immediately because I was already hyperactive and irritable from Lexapro withdrawal. What I found to be a good subsitute is chicory, brewed in a stovetop percolator. It tastes like gourmet coffee, but it's an herb that actually cleanses the liver and does several other beneficial things I can't remember. It costs more than coffee, but if you can afford it, here's where I got mine:

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Skyler

Skyler

Okay.. the time line here could be coincidental, but it has happened too many times to just ignore. I'm taking 150 mgs of Lyrica BID at 10 AM and 10 PM sharp. Problem is this.. it seems that taking a dose ramps up tinnitus, but of course, if I miss a dose, I go into withdrawal, and this makes matters yet worse still.

So.. it seems like the 150 mgs hitting my system amplifies symptoms, then 8 hours on, they improve, then the same up tick in symptoms with the next dose. !@# if I do, and !@# if I don't. Is this in my imagination? Could 150 mgs hitting my system at once be taxing. I pulled back from QID as that had me needlessly taking a dose in the middle of the night. Maybe TID would have been a good call, but this seemed excessive given it would have been necessary to dilute the 150 mg capsules solely for the purpose of splitting them into 3 doses, and at this point what I need most is to stabilize.

My system must have been taxed as much as could be with the tail end of the benzo taper, and trying to reduce on Lyrica put it into overdrive, hence it's pretty fragile at present.

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Skyler

Skyler

OMGGG I cannot win for trying! I'm so ridiculously anxious about this. ARGH I just took 2/3 of a dose too EARLY by 3 hours. I was hyper focused on getting the right measure/amount. I automatically put the pre prepared syringe in my mouth instead of the setting it aside for 10 AM. How many ways can I find to screw up!

I'm sure this mishap is no more than a small/tiny bump, but it illustrates the problems I'm having getting the right dose at the right time.

Schuyler

PS.. even if I'm crawling off Lyrica (20 mgs is less than 10%) I am reducing! I'm suspicious the tinnitus is simultaneously from the hi dose, and tapering, made more sensitive by the diazepam taper.

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meistersinger

meistersinger

Just out of interest how many people have suffered from tinnitus after stopping medication. I have never had it before stopping paroxetine in 2005 it started in that first year and I still have it all day everyday!

I had a stomach flu about 2 weeks ago, and had tinnitus big time. If it wasn't a swarm of locusts, it was the sound of escaping steam from a steam heat register. It has gone away for the most part, although I still hear the locusts occasionally or a dull high pitched sound.

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Skyler

Skyler

I had a stomach flu about 2 weeks ago, and had tinnitus big time. If it wasn't a swarm of locusts, it was the sound of escaping steam from a steam heat register. It has gone away for the most part, although I still hear the locusts occasionally or a dull high pitched sound.

When did you first have tinnitus.. can you trace it to a medication?

Schuyler

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meistersinger

meistersinger

I had a stomach flu about 2 weeks ago, and had tinnitus big time. If it wasn't a swarm of locusts, it was the sound of escaping steam from a steam heat register. It has gone away for the most part, although I still hear the locusts occasionally or a dull high pitched sound.

When did you first have tinnitus.. can you trace it to a medication?

Schuyler

Like I said, it was 2 weeks ago, after a stay in the ER for a stoach bug. I'm beginning to think Viibryd might had something to do with it. Last time I had it, was 17 years ago, when I was on Effexor. I was not on that drug for long (maybe about a month), Since my diabetes was still out of control. The doctor pulled me off because the high pitched squeal was getting annoying.

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Skyler

Skyler

Like I said, it was 2 weeks ago, after a stay in the ER for a stoach bug. I'm beginning to think Viibryd might had something to do with it. Last time I had it, was 17 years ago, when I was on Effexor. I was not on that drug for long (maybe about a month), Since my diabetes was still out of control. The doctor pulled me off because the high pitched squeal was getting annoying.

Wow... I thought you had a history of tinnitus, and the episode with the flu stirred it up. I looked up Viibryd, and while discontinuation causes tinnitus, I'm sure taking a regular dose can do the same.

Thanks for your input!

Schuyler

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meistersinger

meistersinger

Like I said, it was 2 weeks ago, after a stay in the ER for a stoach bug. I'm beginning to think Viibryd might had something to do with it. Last time I had it, was 17 years ago, when I was on Effexor. I was not on that drug for long (maybe about a month), Since my diabetes was still out of control. The doctor pulled me off because the high pitched squeal was getting annoying.

Wow... I thought you had a history of tinnitus, and the episode with the flu stirred it up. I looked up Viibryd, and while discontinuation causes tinnitus, I'm sure taking a regular dose can do the same.

Thanks for your input!

Schuyler

It wouldn't surprise me if I have a sensitivity to antidepressants. When I first started on antidepressants, Prozac turned me mean. I was pulled off it faster than when I went on, approximately 2 weeks. I was put on Effexor about 6 months later. I was off one month later because of the tinnitus, and Effexor was wrecking my voice. 2 months later, I was on amitriphelene, and was taken off 3 months later because I couldn't handle the inebriated feeling. I was antidepressant free ubtil 7 years ago, when I put on citalopram, after I started hearing the voices again. 3 years later,buspar was added to the mix because of anxiety. I was put on Viibryd, after being weaned off citalopram in october of last year, about a month before my mother died. I was taken off Buspar 1 month ago when I started getting panic attacks. Then, finally, I was taken off Viibryd, after the panic attacks got worse. I'm still waiting for the clinic to call back with instructions on what to do next to get me off this merry go round.

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Skyler

Skyler

Do you think, that after all the tries you have had, another medication, further down the doc's choice list, would help? Every time you are on and off antidepressants, your system becomes more and more sensitized. This would seem to be a greater risk?

Perhaps it would be better to look to some of the natural remedies discussed on this site. They will not hurt you, and at the very least, the amount of energy you put into participating should help pull you clear of some of the depressive ideation.

Schuyler

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meistersinger

meistersinger

That's exactly one of the discussion I'm going to have with him tomorrow. I want to feel him out on homeopathic medicine, like melatonin, and good old fashioned talk therapy, with a hhealthy dose of Freud and Jung, and an even bigger dose of Martin Luther). (being an insulin dependent diabetic, I don't think my body can handle another load of synthetic chemistry). Also, since I suspect I also suffered Asperger's when I was younger, I may have been misdiagnosed. I'll be talking to him about testing for ASD. Not. being able to find, and retain, employment over the last 25 years, and not being able to vent, or do anything about it is probably why I'm so down.

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Nadia

Nadia

I also get tinnitus off and on. The last time I would notice it in the AM and at night the most, and it was only in my left ear. I tried my best just to ignore it and eventually it went away. I imagine if it's constant it can really drive you crazy. Once I looked up "ringing in ears" and found a site that said for chronic tinnitus sufferers who found no relief any other way, the best recommendation was to change your mindset about the ringing. Accept it and stop rejecting it. One of those zen approaches, which I think is totally the right approach, but also incredibly difficult!

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Jemima

Jemima

I also get tinnitus off and on. The last time I would notice it in the AM and at night the most, and it was only in my left ear. I tried my best just to ignore it and eventually it went away. I imagine if it's constant it can really drive you crazy. Once I looked up "ringing in ears" and found a site that said for chronic tinnitus sufferers who found no relief any other way, the best recommendation was to change your mindset about the ringing. Accept it and stop rejecting it. One of those zen approaches, which I think is totally the right approach, but also incredibly difficult!

That's exactly how mine acts. It's there when I get up in the morning and returns in late evening, and it's always just on the left side. I try to ignore it, but some days it's loud enough to pretty well ruin the morning. I'll see if I can work my way into a state of welcoming it and trick it into leaving.

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Skyler

Skyler

I also get tinnitus off and on. The last time I would notice it in the AM and at night the most, and it was only in my left ear. I tried my best just to ignore it and eventually it went away. I imagine if it's constant it can really drive you crazy. Once I looked up "ringing in ears" and found a site that said for chronic tinnitus sufferers who found no relief any other way, the best recommendation was to change your mindset about the ringing. Accept it and stop rejecting it. One of those zen approaches, which I think is totally the right approach, but also incredibly difficult!

That's exactly how mine acts. It's there when I get up in the morning and returns in late evening, and it's always just on the left side. I try to ignore it, but some days it's loud enough to pretty well ruin the morning. I'll see if I can work my way into a state of welcoming it and trick it into leaving.

Sigh.. Yup, in the left ear mostly, and at dawn and in the evening. Are either of you on medication that effect the character and onset of the noise? I dose at 9AM and 9PM.. the symptoms get worse 60 minutes after I take the triggering med and go with the onset of action and half life. Then they get louder again 9 hours later, which makes for bumps in the late evening and again at dawn. There is a sensation of an electrical switch being thrown in my brain, and the changes are instantaneous.

Schuyler

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Nadia

Nadia

I'm not on any meds... I was thinking the AM/PM thing had to do with less noise in my environment, or settling down to go to bed and waking up. Also, I wear earplugs to sleep, and having them in makes me hear it much louder, of course.

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Skyler

Skyler

AM/PM LOL, for sure, ear plugs would. But the AM/PM thing seems more complicated.. they are quieter times of day, but given a sneeze or other stimuli can trigger a worsening of symptoms, perhaps just being very aware of symptoms can increase them?

Bringing tinnitus on.. I wonder if there are food additives that could contribute? I have RLS, and Splenda makes them worse. I did a Google for anything that was not fresh produce .etc, and eliminated everything implicated in RLS to good effect. I wonder if same could be true for tinnitus.. and further, if identifying the causes could be more difficult as mercifully fewer people are so plagued.

My sounds change.. they go from a screech to a raspy sound in seconds. Is this the norm?

Schuyler

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Skyler

Skyler

Hello.. my tinnitus episode is once again on the wane so I thought I'd run a few observations by you to see what you think.

At 4 or 5AM, the sound chanbed from hearing chains jingling to a high pitched wail. This happened almost every night, so I'd wake up with a shrieking sound. I kept classical music or BBC World on all night for distraction, but sometimes had to turn the volume up so I could hear over the din. Did anyone else have these noise changes in the middle of the night?

Second, I found dealing with tinnitus when one ear was effected to be relatively easy. When the sounds involved both ears the penetrating quality seemed to increase exponentially, or to use lousy math, the noise hassle increased by a factor of five. On occasion it seemed like I'd go round the bend.

The sound level is down to 1.5 this morning, which is a huge improvement.. and I'm most grateful. When I start to taper again in a week or two, it will be veryyy slow, and hold at the first indication of any sound effects coming from inside my head. As it stands now, I'm exceedingly grateful it is stopping because it's much easier to monitor an upsurge than to assess the level of an ongoing symptoms ~S

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downtongirl

downtongirl

I have been tapering several medications for a year now...started tapering klonopin last summer and developed vertigo and tinnitus, quit klonopin in April, tapered off of risperidone in May, tapered off of gabapentin early June and recently cut my Cymbalta from 60 to 30 mg three days ago. I now have a horrible headache, brain zaps and still have tinnitus and ear pain. Need help! Thanks!